Clyburn on police reform: 'The greatness of this country is at stake'

When unveiling police reform legislation on Monday, House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn said that the "greatness of this country is at stake."

Paraphrasing from Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," the South Carolina congressman said the country is great because it has always been able to repair its faults, not because it's more enlightened than other nations.

"That's what makes this country great, and most right thinking Americans know that the greatness of this country is at stake," Clyburn said at a press conference with fellow congressional Democrats unveiling the new Justice in Policing Act.

"We have unveiled for whatever reason, some faults that need to be repaired. Faults, you know, in our health care system, faults in our judicial system," he also said. 

Clyburn responded to Sen. Tom Cotton saying he does not think there is systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system and to the Arkansas Republican's support for sending the National Guard into major cities where riots and looting took place during police brutality protests.

Clyburn suggested that Cotton should read the history of Isaac Woodard, a black veteran who came home from World War II on a bus in the South when a police officer punched his eyes out.

"Is that institutional in law enforcement?" Clyburn asked. "And that has been the foundation upon which law enforcement in many parts of this country have been established. Cotton is from Arkansas. He ought to be ashamed of himself." 

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass responded to the Black Lives Matter organization’s demand to "defund the police."

The California lawmaker said the bill announced Monday — which focuses on police oversight and reform — doesn’t offer any “new money for policing” but provides grants to local communities for police reform.

“There is a provision in the bill for grants to communities to have projects to begin to re-envision what policing might be about in a particular neighborhood,” she said.